A method of sawing or cutting is known in which a metal wire is passed through a suspension containing hard cutting particles. These particles adhere to the metal wire which is brought to the work piece which is to be cut. The metal wire having the cutting particles on its surface is brought into contact with the work piece and suitable pressure applied resulting in a sawnotch being formed in the work piece as a consequence of the effect of the hard particles thereon. This method has been used inter alia for sawing semi-conductor materials; the wire usually consisting of tungsten and the particles usually consisting of diamond or alumina, etc. The advantages of this method are that very thin saw-notches can be obtained by selecting a very thin tungsten wire and a suspension containing fine-grained particles, with consequent minimal loss of material. The disadvantages of the aforesaid described method is that the cutting particles only lightly adhere to the wire and readily are detached therefrom when the cutting wire contacts the workpiece resulting in low product output and increased wear of the wire.